Yes. To add on to what Fluffwit was saying, every year since Summerset they do a "New Chapter Celebration" event, where the community does something to unlock special rewards. During that time, the new chapter's price is significantly discounted. During this time, the chapter tends to get a 50% discount. If you don't care about all the goodies that come with this event, there is also usually a sale around Black Fredas, when the new chapter is discounted at 67% off.

So, if you're looking for a cheap way to play these chapters, I recommend waiting until one of those sales. It's very unlikely that they'll skip the Chapter Celebration sale, at the very least. However, as always when it comes to businesses, sales are subject to change.

cyberjanet wrote: »

When I decided not to pre-purchase in protest against the poor execution of the companion system, I did some research:

Sale cycle of a new chapter, which usually launches June:
35% off during quakecon, usually August
50% of during community event, end September/October
67% off on Black Fredas and during New Life event

I normally like to pre-purchase early so that I can put the new crafting stations in the guild hall almost immediately.
Can't think that I've ever been attracted by the pre-purchase bonuses.

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Maya_Nur wrote: »

If I remember correctly, there always was a sale for the chapters previous years. However, this year sale appeared much earlier.

Summerset release date May 21, 2018
Summerset (Summerfall) event start Sept 20, 2018
Days in between: 122 days
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/summerfall
Discount: 40%

Elsweyr release date May 20th, 2019
Elsweyr event (Dragon Rise) start date October 3rd, 2019
Days in between: 136
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-gb/dragonrise
Discount: 50%

Greymoor release date May 26th 2020
Greymoor event (Lost Treasures of Skyrim) start date September 23rd 2020
Days in between: 120 days
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/losttreasures
Discount: 50%

Blackwood release date June 1st 2021
Blackwood event (Bounties of Blackwood) start date September 30th 2021
Days in between: 121 days
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/bountiesofblackwood
Discount: 50%

Days in between used this calculator
https://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html

So nope, this sale appeared around the same time as the other ones and is the same percentage off. Elsweyr was significantly later than the others, but the rest all debuted in very similar amount of days. And it's consistently been half off since Elsweyr.

ETA:

Black Fredas Sale 2021
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/61243

ETA 2:

If this old pattern holds true, we'll probably see the next chapter event start on October 18th/20th, but no start has been announced yet, to my knowledge. Also a fairly good chance it starts on October 6th or September 29th, so it doesn't bump up against Witch's Festival. We'll see.